healthyfrenchwife

If you have been following me for a while you will know I like making those healthy loaves/ breads a lot! I have created quite a few in the past and I made a new one last week. Those vegan loaves are one of my favourite thing to bake as they are very practical to give to my kids, to my husband for his work’s morning tea. I have yet to freeze them but I am sure they could freeze well as individual slices for lunchboxes.

Vegan Cherry Coconut Loaf

2 cups of wholemeal flour

1 1/2 cup of coconut milk

2 tsp of baking powder

1/2 cup of coconut oil

1 tsp of apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup of maple syrup

1/2 cup of shredded coconut

1 cup of fresh or frozen cherries

Preheat your oven to 185 degrees and like a loaf tin with baking paper.

I know a lot of vegan desserts and especially raw sweets are made with a lot of nuts. I decided to try making one of my favourite dessert: raw vegan caramel cups and make them nut-free. Next time I will have to try to make a recipe coconut-free as I know a lot of little kids cannot have coconut too.

Crunchy Chocolate Base:

1 cup of sunflower seeds

3 tbsp of cacao

4 tbsp of flax meal

1/3 cup of melted coconut oil

1/3 cup of desiccated coconut

Caramel Layer:

10 medjool dates

1 tbsp of coconut oil

1 tbsp of the water from the soaked dates

1 tbsp of tahini

Raw Chocolate topping:

3 tbsp of melted coconut oil

2 tbsp of raw cacao powder

1 tbsp of maple syrup

Soak your dates in hot water

In a food processor mix the dry ingredients and then add the coconut oil.

Press in a muffin silicon tray and place in the fridge to set.

Drain your dates but keep some of the water in which they soaked.

Blend in your food processor with the rest of the caramel ingredients until smooth.

Spoon on top of the chocolate bases and place in the freezer while you make the raw chocolate.

For the raw chocolate mix in a glass the ingredients and whisk together with a fork or whisk to make it smooth.

Pour on top of the caramel layer and leave to set for a few hours in the fridge.

I have been baking healthy sweets for the past 3 years and I think these healthy hazelnut brownies are my ultimate favourites!! Sweet enough, healthy and taste like nutella when you bite into the roasted hazelnuts combined with the gooey chocolate brownies. I love them! They disappeared within one day in our house!

For the nitty gritty they are also quite allergy-friendly as they are soy-free, egg-free, dairy-free, refined sugar free and gluten-free. They are however not nut-free!

For the sceptics- you cannot taste sweet potato in baked goods!

Vegan healthy hazelnut Brownies

450 gr of steamed/ boiled sweet potato

1/2 cup of maple syrup (more if you have a sweet tooth)

1/2 cup of raw cacao powder

1 cup of almond milk

2/3 cup of ground almonds

1/2cup of gluten free flour

1 tsp of vanilla essence

1/2 cup of hazelnuts

Steam or boil your sweet potato, drain and leave to cool.

Pre heat your oven to 175 degrees celsius and line a small brownie pan with baking paper.

In a food processor add in the potatoes and all the other ingredients;

Mix until very well combined.

Spoon into your pan and press some hazelnuts in the dough + top with extra crushed hazelnuts.

My little girl Annabelle is 10 weeks old and is now diagnosed as having a soy allergy (Non-IGE mediated food allergy).

A bit of science:

Non-ige allergy are different from Ige allergies. They are less severe and reactions are usually more delayed. They usually involve symptoms of the gastrointestinal tract such as vomiting, bloating and diarrhoea. Ige allergies’ symptoms are usually immediate and involve hives, redness of the skin, vomiting and in more severe cases anaphylaxis. To this day there is no blood or skin test to diagnose non-ige allergies them but rather eliminate the food and reintroduce it to check for symptoms reappearing.

Background:

When Annabelle was 2.5 weeks old she started getting terrible skin, lots of big angry pimples which then developed into a rash with lots of tiny pimples on her neck, chest, eye lids, ears. I had never seen anything like it on babies (the twins never got baby acne).

As a worried mum I spent the night feeds googling and reading online (as you do!) about baby acne. I waited to see if it would go away. At 4 weeks it wasn’t really going away but some days were so much better than others. I felt it was linked to my diet and my instinct told me it was more than baby acne so after chatting with a friend whose baby has multiple food allergies, I took soy out of my diet as I was having a lot of soy daily. (mostly tofu for protein and soy milk in my coffee) Her type of allergy means she reacts to the soy I eat in my diet through breastfeeding. She also reacted to the soy in my iron supplement just this week even though I have been very careful with what I eat and the packaging didn’t include soy until I checked online.

When I was having soy she would have terrible reflux and would vomit quite a bit after every feed. After eliminating soy and reintroducing it I found that her main symptoms are:

Reflux (sour/smelly vomits, cottage cheese like)

Rash/pimples on cheeks, ears and neck

Lots of Mucus in her poos

Sounding like she had a cold.

Not sleeping good

Needing to be kept upright

Stiff body and neck

The hardest thing now for me as a soy-free vegan is making sure I am eating enough protein and calcium as soy milk and tofu was a daily/weekly source of these nutrients for me.

This is why it is important when you think your baby has a food intolerance to go see a doctor and a dietician/nutritionist to make sure both you and bub are eating a healthy diet. Lucky for me I have been able to draw on my nutrition knowledge to ensure I get enough protein and calcium everyday. Also Annabelle is still gaining lots of weight and our breastfeeding journey is going great (without the soy)!

I am now swapping soy milk in my coffee for almond milk and increasing legumes such as chickpeas, lentils in my lunches and dinners, I also add tbsp of hemp seeds and including hemp based natural protein powders in my morning smoothie and afternoon snack if I can. I easily reach my protein requirements if I am mindful and include these. As well as wholegrains and peanut butter!

I also had to cut off most breads and dark chocolates from my diet as they contain soy flour or soy lecithin as emulsifier. Most quality sourdoughs are fine though. We will test soon if she can handle some soy flour/ soy oil in my diet through bread.

What do I eat now?

Porridge made with coconut/hemp or nut milk

Smoothies with nut milk (fortified with calcium) with hemp protein powder and other superfoods

Chickpeas, lentils and hemp seeds for protein in salads and curries.

Salads with brown rice, beans and nuts.

Avocados

Quinoa

Pastas with lentils, veggies, cashew cheese

Rice crackers with hummus and veggies for snacks

Bliss balls

Dates

All Fruits

All Veggies

Dhals, veggies stews, curries homemade.

What to eat for calcium:

Fortified almond milk – using vegan sources of calcium.

Green veggies such as spinach, kale and brocoli

Tahini, sesame seeds

Some quality vegan protein powders

Dried figs

Almonds

Chia seeds, hemp seeds.

I make sure to eat a lot of these foods as calcium requirements while breastfeeding are at the highest. 1250mg of calcium per day is required to maintain optimal health for mum and baby. I will also include a B12 supplement and a calcium supplement in my days very soon to make sure I have enough.

Do you have a child with food intolerances/ allergies? I hope Annabelle grows out of it when she starts solids!

This past week we had a friend and professional photographer Kirsten Cunningham come and do a photoshoot of us in the kitchen as I wanted some professional shots of us baking and to use for my blog and Instagram page. I couldn’t be happier by how they turned out and the twins had so much fun being photographed. They also enjoyed licking the chocolate and mixing the chocolate cake!

We made a simple vegan chocolate cake and despite being over mixed, me forgetting the sugar and being made while doing a photoshoot it turned out quite good!

So here are more pictures of the twins and I baking in my own kitchen. I hope you enjoy seeing a little behind-the-scenes action and seeing a bit more of the twins and myself. Annabelle also made an appearance!

I have included the recipe for the chocolate cake at the bottom of the post too. Enjoy and hope you have as much fun as us baking it! xxx

Halloween is in a few days and I am looking forward to it. Australia does not celebrate it much but I want to dress up the kiddies and we live in a new street with lots of kids/teenagers around so we might get a few trick or treaters!

I will make some dark chocolate Halloween pumpkins to share with the twins.

I made these Pumpkin spice brownies on Saturday and as I type this on Sunday at 5pm they are all gone!!! They were a big hit I guess haha

They are vegan, soy-free, nut-free and refined sugar-free. (If you want to make them GF just use buckwheat or a gf baking flour mix)

I used homemade pumpkin puree as it is much healthier than the canned version which can be full of sugar.

I added Pumpkin Pie spices to make it more “pumpkiny” but you could omit them. I was out of ground clove and all spice so I used my DoTerra essential oils and used a drop of clove essential oil and a drop of On Guard essential oil.

And to make my brownies more spooky and Halloween-themed I tried to make a spider web using tahini and added little plastic spiders. It was fun to do with my kiddies haha

1. Cleaning products
Being a mum I want to have a natural, toxic-free home and I now create my own cleaning products using white vinegar, lemon, tee tree, clove and onguard essential oils.

I have a bathroom cleaning spray, a kitchen spray, I mop using peppermint or tee-tree oil and wipe furniture with lemon essential oil. This way my home is clean, smells amazing and is not full of extra chemicals. So much more cost effective too!

2. Beauty Products
Same reason as the cleaning products I don’t want to spray my body with chemicals and much prefer using natural beauty products that are toxic free and not full of dangerous chemicals.

I use Frankinsence, tee tree oil and geranium essential oils in Rosehip oil for my moisturizer. (These oils are great for anti-aging and pimples!).

I also use the roll-on Hope, Cheer or Clary Calm as perfumes depending on my mood.

3. Enhance my mood and emotions.

I also use the Doterra essential oils as a pick-me-up like Wild Orange or Citrus Bliss, I use Balance when I need to ground myself when looking after winging toddlers, Citrus Bliss or Geranium when feeling stressed, Wild Orange to boost my mood (I cannot be sad when smelling this oil!), and Lavender for stress and to get a restful sleep amongst many others!

I either diffuse them or use a drop of oil on my wrists, hands and neck to inhale and smell them.

4. Cooking

I also use my essential oils quite regularly in cooking and baking. Lemon is great in dressings, cakes and pancakes. Wild Orange in chocolate and bliss balls and I like the lime for Mexican, Lemongrass for curries and Basil for pesto/pasta amongst many others. They recently launched a turmeric one which I am keen to use for lattes and curries.

5. Diffusing
The first use of the essential oils for most people is to diffuse them. I originally bought the oils to make my house smell nice. I diffuse them everyday in my house following my needs and mood.

6. Health

I use the oils very often for health reasons – either to prevent colds/ germs or to boost the twins immunity and to relieve “bobos” and sore tummies. Like Onguard diluted on their necks, Easy Air diluted on their chest when they have a cough, Digest Zen when we have sore tummies, Lavender for burns and rashes, Tea tree oil for ear infections and much more!

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If you are interested in trying the oils for yourself and do not have a current DoTerra account- let me know or follow the prompts below to order some. xx

How to purchase oils at 25% off retail

Step 1: Click on this linkOR Head to www.mydoterra.com/healthyfrenchwifeStep 2: Click ‘Join and Save’Step 3: Select your Language & Country of ResidenceStep 5: Choose Wholesale Customer or Wellness Advocate. ((Choose wellness advocate if you choose to ear commission and share your love for the oils as a business).Step 6: Fill out the top of the application with your personal information…address, email etc. (If you don’t have an ABN that’s fine, just leave it blank).Step 7: At Enroller id, make sure my number 1906646 is displayed then click verify to see my name (Claire Power).Step 8: Select either the enrolment kit you would like (and waive the joining fee) or choose your single oils and add your ‘Welcome Introductory Packet for $35 (this is your membership).Make sure to add a bottle of ‘fractionated coconut oil’ to your order so you can start to create blends and apply the oils safely to your body. Step 10: Select continue and you will be directed to the next page to input your credit card details. Complete this and submit your order!

This is a super healthy, nutritious and refreshing spring & summer light meal! This would be great as starters or one big bowl for one person. I really liked it and I will make it often this summer. So simple too! Check out the recipe below.

I have not posted on my blog for a little while as we welcomed a new addition in our family. Miss Annabelle was born on 11.09.18 and since we have been very busy (with relatives staying with us and flying to Perth to attend not one but 2 weddings with a newborn and toddler twins! it was a bit crazy!).

Anyway…

I am finally back in the kitchen baking and creating new recipes and this one is definitely one to share with you. Let me know if you make it.

It is vegan, refined sugar free and easy to make. You can easily make it nut-free by using soy/ coconut milk instead of nut milk.Vegan Chocolate Marble Banana Bread

2 cups of wholemeal flour

1 cup + 2 tbsp of soy or nut milk

3 ripe bananas

1/2 cup of coconut oil

2 1/2 tsp of baking powder

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup of maple syrup or stevia

.

1/2 cup of cacao

1 extra banana to top

Preheat your oven at 180 degrees Celsius

Line a loaf tin with baking paper.

In a blender mash the bananas (or use a fork).

In a bowl mix the dry ingredients together then add the bananas mashed and the wet ingredients apart from the cacao.

Put half of the batter on the side then add the cacao in the remaining batter.

Spoon a layer of the banana layer then a layer of chocolate layer until you use them both.